Anarchists & AntiFascists protected clergy and students

In this Democracy Now interview, Cornel West and Rev. Traci Blackmon say that they and 20 University of Virginia students owed their lives to AntiFascists and Anarchists who protected them from thousands of white supremacists. Police stood aside to let neo-Nazi protestors attack the antiprotestors.

screen grab from the video

Cornel West:

The next day, for example, those 20 of us who were standing, many of them clergy, we would have been crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchists and the antifascists who approached, over 300, 350 antifascists. We just had 20. And we’re singing "This Little light of Mine,"…

The antifascists, and then, crucial, the anarchists, because they saved our lives, actually. We would have been completely crushed, and I’ll never forget that. [emphasis mine]

Replies to This Discussion

Good points, and thanks for your participation, Joan. I hadn't been aware of 1965 as a tipping point from nonviolence to black power. "... it became increasingly obvious to blacks that continued advancement was dependent on a black show of force."

The Right-Wing attempts to make the hate crimes of the Alt Right look less Nefarious by pointing out a few scattered incidents. There has not been one single person killed by Left Winged hate groups in 18 years. There have been more than 300 killed by Right-Winged hate groups in that same period. You cannot blame 9-11 on the Left-Wing. Foreign terrorists and Jihadists are really more conservative than liberal.

John, the black panthers haven't been active for years. There has never been a time in this country that left-winged violence was a legitimate threat. There has been right-winged terrorism from 1800 to the present. there are over 400 legitimate active and violent right-winged hate groups in our country at present. We all know how trigger happy and gun crazed the right-wing is. You cannot equivocate left-winged hate and right-winged hate groups in the U.S. There is absolutely no comparison. I have showed you numbers and stats in previous posts. You have no ground to stand on. AntiFa is almost nonexistent in numbers. They have killed no one. They haven't even significantly injured anyone. This country has been leaning so far to the right that it can no longer see the center. We have sadly become a fascist nation. Progressives are putting up as much resistance as it can muster. That is why we need a giant mirror instead of a wall. We need to look into that mirror to see what we have become. It's not pretty. America has sadly become a country of hate.

I never said that Antifa was an actual threat, beyond harassing neo nazis and breaking Starbucks windows. That is my point. Thugs do not affect change. They merely intimidate. The Black Panthers in the 60's did bring about change.

Trump has emboldened a far right movement. I won't argue there. Pardoning Arpaio was a fascist act, as was rescinding DACA. There is also a crazed, regressive left. They violently storm speakers at Berkeley they disagree with. Bill Maher was shut out for speaking ill of Islam ( and all religions ). What is needed are more moderate and sensible liberals - especially if the dems want to start winning elections again.

Sorry, John, but when I'm facing an escalating Nazi threat, being told that liberals should be"moderate and sensible" sounds similar to me as when domineering abusive male relatives harangue their women folk to be more polite and ladylike instead of raising their voices to object when they're threatened. This is my feminist background coming out. Oppressors always insist that those they oppress be polite instead of resisting with vigor, and they feel morally justified.

If I had a choice of living with the putative "crazed, regressive left" and right wing nut jobs, gimme the left every time. They're going to tell me not to say "Merry Christmas." The right's going to tell me where I can and can't stick my dick.

I object to all in Antifa being stereotyped as unorganized violent thugs. In the run up to Charlottesville, I read, Antifa were the most organized among the assorted counterprotestors. Even if it's a loose collection of local groups without federal organization, they have some organization, or they wouldn't be such handy targets. Isn't it propaganda to label everyone in a group as thugs? Plenty of men are thugs, but you wouldn't want me to say men are thugs.

When you find out, let me know. From all I can tell, this is a political argument among people who are more or less on the same side but have to quibble about meaningless distinctions that don't make a difference.